St. Augustine City Northern Mooring Field

St. Augustine City Northern AnchorageStatute Mile: 778Lat/Lon: near 29 53.776 North/081 18.587 WestLocation: will be found north of the Bridge of Lions, along the westerly banksSpecial Note: this long-popular anchorage was converted to a mooring field by the city of St. Augustine in the fall of 2010Minimum Depth: 8-feetSwing Room: only limited by other vessels swinging at anchor on these watersFoul Weather Protection: Fair to Poor; wide open to northeasterly windsWaste Pump-out Availability: A free pumpout boat is available for boats in the mooring field, and boats also anchored in the city limits for a fee of $5. For more information go to http://www.staugustinegovernment.com/visitors/municipal-marina.cfm

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In regards Statute Mile 778 – this mooring field is managed by the St Augustine Municipal Marinahttp://www.staugustinegovernment.com/visitors/municipal-marina.cfm
and although large, can get booked up during heavy times of cruisers heading north/south. It’s good to book early if possible. Very clean facilities, including showers, laundry, lounge. The dinghy dock is floating concrete and in excellent shape. Their facilities are right down town, great location. My only caution is that bikes that have been locked to their bike rack tend to disappear in the dark of the night. I believe they are working to address this issue with better lighting and cameras.
Best regards,
Michelle Bennett
s/v A La Mer

We stayed for two nights in the North field the end of March. Very nice and easy to find moorings. They keep the lines up and out of the water so they are clean and free of growth. The marina will send their boat out to you to collect the fee and/or take you to/from their docks. We did not drop the dinghy so I can’t give a review on the dinghy dock. A pump-up boat is also available on demand and is included in the fee. All in all a really positive experience, well done.
Don
mv Fortuitous

The moorings are well maintained, and the fee ($15 or $20) includes full shower facilities, dinghy dockage (plenty of good space, water spigots, trash/recycling disposal). Totally safe.
Peter TenHaagen

In answer to your question, I stayed at the mooring field north of the bridge this past February. We arrived in the cold and the rain to pick up a mooring ball. The marina staff was great. We were tired and really did not want to launch the dinghy and they came to my boat to collect the very reasonable over night fee.
St Augustine is one of my favorite places.
Bill D

Yes, we were told to pick up a mooring in the Salt Run #5, I think. Anyway, we told them we were a 6 ft draft and there was no way we could get even close to it. Probably no more than a few feet there We realized it just before we would have gone a ground. The moorings by the marina are very nice, $20 a night with all rights to the marina. You are right down town with all the activities and restaurants. The next time we went we anchored by the fort. it was great, no problem and saved the money.
Harry & Melinda Schell
S/V Sea Schell

This was a very satisfying experience.
We anchored north of the bridge for an early AM departure. The price is very reasonable and they offered launch service on a two hour schedule so it was not necessary to put the dingy down. We did not take advantage of this service so the cost, if any, is unknown.
This is the third time we have used the field and will be back.
Jim & Marge Fuller
Summer Skis

St Augustine Municipal Marina will not accept credit card information over the phone (unlike 99% of the marinas out there). If one arrives between 1800 and 2030, one is expected to go alongside regardless of the current/weather or launch a dinghy to pay. If their launch operator collects payment, they will only accept cash and *exact change* is
demanded.
I was told their lawyers would not let them accept the CC info by phone. When I asked if I could pick up a mooring and pay in the morning, I was not too politely asked, “what motel would let you do that?”
The services may have changed at St Augustine, but the attitude hasn’t. We remain sheep for the shearing. And the no wake zone was not enforced while we were there.
Chris Waln

To Chris’s post above, I have witnessed many cruisers, sneaking in after dark, and tying up to docks, even taking power for the nite, and water, using all the facilities and then leaving in the morning and presumably not paying at all. Not to say that some of them may have called in the next day and paid over phone, we did that once, ourselves, paid by phone the next day, after calling and leaving message that we had tied to the dock the night before. But I am afraid these marina’s are seeing way too many people that aren’t always honest, and that’s why the rules are made as such, sometimes, it’s not all about us and our convenience, sometimes we need to think about wearing the shoe on the other foot. We do live in the modern age and we enjoy the conveniences we receive at some of the other marinas, that do allow pay by phone, but as I have heard many many times, a thoughtful guest, when a guest in Rome, will act and abide by the rules of Rome. Just a Thought!
Clay Taylor

Recent reports of shoaling at some of the moorings in the St. Augustine Mooring Field were confirmed by phone today, but according to the City Marina spokesperson, the shoaling is continuous and constantly changing. Currently there are moorings with as much as 15ft and some with 0ft. However, the moorings are always assigned and you would be assigned a mooring according to your draft. Thus the necessity to contact the City Marina at 904-825-1026 before picking up a mooring pendant.

We came into St. Augustine last week at dusk and called for a mooring. They told us we either had to tie up to the dock to complete the paperwork, which would have required waiting for the bridge to open, or take a mooring in the north field and launch our dinghy in the darkness to get to the dockmaster’s office. Either option was the last thing I wanted to do after being at sea for three days. We stop in St. Augustine twice each year and sometimes stay awhile. I’ve never found the over-priced municipal marina welcoming. This time, we left the mooring field and made our way up the San Sebastian River to one of the marinas (Rivers Edge) where we were welcomed openly. It’s much cheaper than the city marina, more protected and just a short walk into town.
Dennis Jay

Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:18:57 -0400 (EDT)
I was always in favor of a mooring field and some regulations as too many boaters left boats unattended for months making it the city’s problem…my days of boating have come down to a short boat ride to the fort, anchoring for 1-2 hrs, back to my marina and then drive to a restaurant for a nice lunch. I replaced my 40′ boat with a 22′ so I could do this with less work. Now comes the mooring field. Two days ago, the mooring field was 70% vacant so with the intent of sunning mysel for an hour I tied up to a mooring. I was willing to pay the $4 hr city dock rate, if asked. After a half hour their launch boat came by and in no uncertain terms I was told I would have to motor in to their dock, register, pay a $20 flat rate day fee or immediately vacate. Sure, I was wrong to steal time at their mooring but I like to play it safe with anchoring and the only choice I have is to anchor in the middle of the harbor or tuck into just adjacent to a spoil island just north of the fort in the middle of a small boat channel. I see no reason why the city can’t set aside a few moorings for hourly boats, have the smaller boats radio in for assignment, and pay the $4-$8 directly to the launch operator, exact change only.I’m really distressed over this whole situation and my love affair with the city is over.(Also for your info, to park a car costs $.25 for 10 minutes and the lots that have meters go to $8-$10 flat fee, 2 yrs ago, if you knew where to park, you could do so for nothing). For certain, this city is neither tourist or boater friendly on any level!!!
Les Glasser

We pulled into Salt Run on the evening of the 20th of November and our first observation was “Wow, where did all the junk go?” Our second observation was that there were several lines of crab pots. Upon closer examination the crab pots were white mooring balls, very neatly identified as SR 1, etc. We coasted up to one, caught the painter, and soon had Carolina snugged in.
Around 5:20 pm we were hailed by a St. Augustine Marina employee who got us registered, suggested a ball that had better for our draft, and we paid our $14.00 fee for the night.
We were given a card identifying the ball and the date which gave us access to everything we would have had at the City Marina, other than water and electric.
We fully understand the controversy over anchoring rights in and around various Florida municipalities, but having experienced what St. Augustine has accomplished, are very satisfied with the product.
Steve and Sheila Kamp aboard S/V Carolina

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